What Will I Be Like When I am 75?

The sun is setting in the western sky, and as I sit on the balcony of my condo, facing the rippling waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the disappearing sun, I glance down at my hands, where they neatly folded in my lap. In my mind’s eye, I am still quite young. My hands tell a different story though. The reality is that I have become an elder. I am still young-old, being in my early 60’s. That is the new politically correct way of talking about senior citizens in today’s society. At 75, I will be old-old. So my essay begins with that realization. Unlike my fellow classmates, I am in my early 60’s and age 75 is closer to my reality than to theirs. I would love to read their essays to see how the 30 plus years of additional life experience make a difference in the vision?

I do not believe that life itself changes. There are always highs and lows, ups and downs no matter how old someone is. What I do believe is that if the individual is an enlightened person, and understands what is really important in living their best life, they are what changes over the years. Wisdom and experience plays a very big role in coming to that understanding. So with that being said, my life at 75 is a result of a lifetime of experiences and enlightened thinking. My life at 75 is awesome and all that I hoped it would be. Is everything perfect every day and all the time? No, absolutely not. What appears to have happened is that a lifetime of learning has resulted in a different way of thinking and developing new coping skills. Because I am so aware of this lesson, I share this way of thinking through workshops I have created and facilitate in my community, and at the local college. The feedback that I receive from young and old alike...

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... that when an older person believes in the negative stereotype of aging, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Children as young as six years of age are already indoctrinated with these false attitudes. Studies further show a link between early life attitudes toward aging and incidences of health issues in those same individuals as they aged. The author suggests that people are internalizing stereotypes of old age when they are still quite young. This is the first scientific look at people maturing into the very people they have been unkindly stereotyping. It is a field that shows great promise in changing long overdue attitudes and stereotyping of our senior population.

So the sun has set and the stars begin to twinkle. Another day in paradise is ending and my evening time has yet to unfold. I have earned 75 and look forward to the new journey yet to unfold.